OK, Hazlet resident Joseph Virgilio wasn't calling some radio show. He was calling Jersey Central Power & Light Co. to report a power outage. Pretty boring, right? But what came next zapped him like a high voltage spark.

"After reporting the outage and providing my account information, I was advised by JCP&L's representative that since I was the first caller to report the outage, there would be an $85.00 charge," Virgilio wrote in a letter to the Asbury Park Press.

What?

"It is beyond my comprehension how this utility can justify levying such a ridiculous charge," Virgilio said. "Here I am informing the utility that their service has been interrupted in my neighborhood and they want to charge me $85.00 for telling them?"

Virgilio never wound up having to pay that $85. But why did he get told he would have to pay it in the first place?

Press on Your Side called JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano for an explanation.

Virgilio was the first person to call about the outage near his Laurel Avenue home. That meant that when the representative looked at the utility's outage management system, the outage was not evident, as no one else had called in yet, Morano said.

In those cases, representatives tell the caller to check their own service and circuits, just to make sure it's not just their house.

"If you call in and tell us that you have an outage and we send a crew out there and there is no problem with our equipment .... we can charge you a fee for the crew coming out to your home," Morano said. The potential charge: $85.

Potential for miscommunication

Morano could not comment on the specifics of Virgilio's call. "There is the potential for miscommunication," Morano said. "We frequently review with our reps the messages that we share with customers and how they should be delivered."

After Virgilio's call, the outage was evident. It was caused by a motor vehicle accident that damaged JCP&L's equipment. "He was not charged," Morano said.

Press on Your Side passed along Morano's explanation and the utility's policy. A utility's rule to charge a fee when a resident reports an outage that turns out to be a problem in the house is not unusual.

(Verizon charges $95 for the first hour of a technician's time when they are called out to a home for an inside wire problem unless the customer has a $8.95 per month maintenance plan.)

However, an explanation of the policy is not what Virgilio heard when he made the initial call, he said.

"It might mean the same thing in their mind, and that's not what I heard," Virgilio said. "My whole neighborhood is out of power and you are going to charge me what? For telling you?"

Do you have a consumer problem that needs solving? Contact business writer David P. Willis: 732-643-4042, pressonyourside@app.com or facebook.com/dpwillis732